“The Machine” rolls on, and “The Suga Show” is on hiatus, at least for the time being.
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In the main event of UFC 306 inside Sphere at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Merab Dvalishvili (18-4, 11-2 UFC) plied his relentless wrestling and his legendary pace and cardio to dethrone Sean O'Malley (18-2, 1 NC, 10-2, 1 NC UFC) and claim the bantamweight belt. The first round was a tense affair, with both men feeling out the range and rhythm, but the challenger landed two takedowns with relative ease in the second half of the frame, landing some solid strikes as O’Malley worked his way back to his feet and briefly threatening with a mounted guillotine choke late. Dvalishvili wasted little time bringing things back to the canvas in Round 2, timing the champ for an easy double-leg and doing work from top position for the balance of the round. By the end of the second frame, Dvalishvili was grinning and clowning, planting a kiss on the head of the seated champ and dra…